Water suction and discharging apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a water suction and discharging apparatus. The present invention adopts a high-speed vacuum pump which produces a suction force to suck in the water in a water accumulative zone to enter into a container. The water is subsequently drain off to places elsewhere by means of a unidirectional check valve provided at the lateral of the container bottom, or a submerged pump provided in the container. The present invention is particularly useful in places where the area is extensive, and the water level is low; since in such places, the conventional dry/wet vacuum cleaner or submerged pump may not function.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a water suction and dischargingapparatus comprising a high-speed vacuum pump provided at the upperportion of the apparatus, a water container provided at the lowerportion thereof, and a unidirectional check valve provided at the loweredge of the bottom of said container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] A dry/wet vacuum cleaner is a common cleaning installation, andis composed of a high-speed vacuum pump located at the top, a waterstorage container at the bottom, and a water suction hose at the side,as shown in FIG. 1. However, in operation, when the water stored in thecontainer accumulates to a certain amount, the vacuum cleaner has to bedismounted to separate the vacuum pump, container and water suction hosefrom each other. The container has to be removed to dispose the watertherein to places elsewhere. After the water has been disposed of, thevacuum pump, container and water suction hose must be reassembled forfurther use. Therefore, such dry/wet vacuum cleaner is inconvenient touse, low efficient, and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatuswhich may overcome the aforementioned problems, and is convenient touse, labor saving and time consuming.

[0004] The present invention adopts a high-speed vacuum pump whichproduces a suction force to suck in the water in a water accumulativezone to enter into a container. The water is subsequently drain off toplaces elsewhere by means of a unidirectional check valve provided atthe lateral of the container bottom, or a submerged pump provided in thecontainer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The present invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments, in which:

[0006]FIG. 1 shows a conventional dry/wet vacuum cleaner.

[0007]FIG. 2 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0008]FIG. 3 shows a unidirectional check valve in its closedconfiguration.

[0009]FIG. 4 shows a unidirectional check valve in its openconfiguration.

[0010]FIG. 5 is side view of a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0011]FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of thedischarging pipe in a water tower in the mode of first category.

[0012]FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of thedischarging pipe in a water tower in the mode of second category.

[0013]FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the arrangement of thedischarging pipe in a water tower in the mode of third category.

[0014]FIG. 9 is side view of a third preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0015]FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but without applying directdischarging.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] With reference to FIG. 2 which shows the basic construction ofthe present invention, a high-speed vacuum pump is designated as A, asuction hose as B, a water storage container as C, wheels that are freeto rotate 360° as D, a water outlet of a unidirectional check valve asE, a unidirectional check valve as EA, air outlet as F, a water suctionmouth as G, and a water discharge hose as H.

[0017] When the high-speed vacuum pump A is actuated, the air within thewater storage container C will be discharged from the air outlet Finstantaneously. Since there exist a pressure difference between theinterior and exterior of the water storage container C, theunidirectional check valve EA located at the water outlet E isforcefully attracted and closed (see FIG. 3). If the water suction mouthG of the suction hose B is now moved to the water accumulative zone, thewater in the accumulative zone will be sucked into the water storagecontainer C through the water suction mouth G and suction hose B. Whenthe water level in the container C rises to a certain level, the vacuumpump A will cease operation. At this instant, the pressure within thecontainer C nearly equals to the external pressure, and the check valveEA is pushed outwards from the inside to open (as shown in FIG. 4) uponthe action of the weight of the water within the container C. The waterin the container C will then be discharged to places elsewhere throughthe water outlet E and discharge hose H. As the water level in thecontainer C drops to a certain level, the check valve EA is closed sinceit is not under the action of the water weight. The vacuum pump A isrestarted to repeat the aforementioned process, and thus the water inthe accumulative zone can be removed easily.

[0018]FIG. 5 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Withreference to FIG. 5, a water level controller J can be attached tocontrol the vacuum pump A automatically. As the water level in thecontainer C drops to a certain level, the water level controller J willbe activated (switch from ON to OFF) to cease the operation of thevacuum pump A. The check valve EA is pushed open as it is acted upon bythe weight of the water in the container C. Water will then bedischarged through the discharge hose H. As the water level in thecontainer C drops to a certain level, the water level controller J willbe activated (switch from OFF to ON) to actuate the vacuum pump A. Dueto the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of thecontainer C, the unidirectional check valve EA is forcefully attractedand closed. The water in the accumulative zone is sucked by the suctionmouth G to enter into the water storage container C through the suctionhose B, which is then discharged through the discharge hose H. Thesuction and discharging of water proceed automatically, and is thussimple and convenient in operation. The present invention obviates theneed to dismount and reassembly as the conventional apparatus (FIG. 1)does. Therefore, the present invention does provide improved effectsover existing ones.

[0019] In general, water towers for storing water are installed in thebasements or on the rooftops of the buildings. The water towers normallyneed to be cleaned periodically to ensure that the water quality ismaintained at a certain hygienic level.

[0020] After the water towers have been cleaned, the dirty water fromthe water towers must be drained out, either manually or by means ofsubmerged pumps, or by the discharge pipes of the water towers. Thearrangement of the discharge pipes can be classified into threecategories according to the direction of the water outlets. In the firstcategory (refer to FIG. 6), the discharge pipe is arranged horizontally,and the lowest point of the pipe is at a level higher than the bottom ofthe water tower. Normally, the height is less than 20 cm. In the secondcategory (refer to FIG. 7), the discharge pipe is arranged horizontally,and the lowest point of the pipe is at the same height as the bottom ofthe water tower. In the third category (refer to FIG. 8), the dischargepipe is arranged vertically.

[0021] After the walls of a water tower have been cleaned, and the dirtywater in the water tower is to be drained out, in the case where thedischarge pipe is arranged in the same manner as in the first category,the operator has to place the submerged pump underwater to drain off thedirty water. However, there is a limitation in the use of a submergedpump. That is, the water level cannot be too low; otherwise thesubmerged pump cannot function. Normally, when the water level is below3 to 5 cm (dependent on the types of the submerged pumps), the submergedpump will not function. In this case, the operator has to remove thedirty water manually by lifting barrels of dirty water to dispose of.Alternatively, the operator may place a submerged pump in a barrel, andfills the barrel with dirty water manually until the water level reachesa certain level to actuate the submerged pump to drain off the water.When the water level in the barrel is too low, the submerged pump isstopped, and the barrel is again filled with dirty water manually.Therefore, such a process is time-consuming and high in labor cost.

[0022] In the case where the discharge pipe is arranged in the samemanner as in the second and third categories, though the wateraccumulated in the water tower is not as much as that of the firstcategory, water will still accumulate in some areas if the waterdrainage is poor as a result of inferior construction. This will be anuisance to the operators performing the cleaning process.

[0023]FIG. 9 illustrates a further embodiment of the present inventionwhich may overcome the aforementioned problems. The water suction mannerin the embodiment of FIG. 9 is similar to that of FIG. 5. The onlydifference between FIGS. 9 and 5 is that, in FIG. 9, a submerged pump Msupported by a support frame N is mounted below a high-speed vacuum pumpA received within a water storage container C. Such a design not onlycan discharge the water quickly, but also is power-saving. The submergedpump M is arranged in such a way that it may either drain the waterdirectly or indirectly.

[0024] As the water level in the water tower is high enough to actuatethe submerged pump M to function, direct discharging is performed bydismounting the container C and placing the present apparatus in thewater.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 10, only the submerged pump M is used todirectly drain off the dirty water. Since the high-speed vacuum pump Ais not used, power is saved and the life span of the high-speed vacuumpump A is lengthened.

[0026] If under the condition that the water level in the water tower isat a low level that the submerged pump M cannot function to dischargethe water, the container C is reassembled, and indirect discharging isapplied. The high-speed vacuum pump A is actuated to suck in the waterwhich cannot be drained off by the high-speed vacuum pump A. The wateris stored in the container C. Furthermore, the dirty water is drainedout of the water tower swiftly by means of the combination of a waterlevel controller J and submerged pump M. Generally speaking, only whenthe discharging tube of the water tower is arranged in the mode of firstcategory (see FIG. 6), will the submerged pump apply direct and indirectdischarging in combination. If the discharging tube is disposed in themode of second and third categories, only indirect discharging isapplied. The present invention can improve the efficiency, saving timeand labor.

What I claimed is:
 1. A water suction and discharging apparatuscomprising a high-speed vacuum pump, a water level controller, asubmerged pump, a unidirectional check valve, and a water storagecontainer, and a water outlet for said check valve is provided at theupper portion of said apparatus, said vacuum pump located at the upperportion of said apparatus produces a suction force to suck in the waterthrough a suction hose, and transfer the water into said containerlocated below, said water level controller, said submerged pump locatedwithin said container, and said check valve constitute a dischargingapparatus capable of discharging the water in said container to placeselsewhere.